The Charlotte–mecklenburg Hosp. Auth. v. Talford

• Decision Date: 02 August 2011
• Docket Number: No. COA10–897.,COA10–897.
• Citation: 714 S.E.2d 476
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The CHARLOTTE–MECKLENBURG HOSPITAL AUTHORITY, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.Robert M. TALFORD, Defendant–Appellant.

714 S.E.2d 476

The CHARLOTTE–MECKLENBURG HOSPITAL AUTHORITY, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Robert M. TALFORD, Defendant–Appellant.

No. COA10–897.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Aug. 2, 2011.

Appeal by Defendant from order entered 1 April 2010 by Judge Timothy L. Patti in Superior Court, Mecklenburg County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 13 December 2010.

The McIntosh Law Firm, P.C., Davidson, by Robert G. McIntosh, Regina Wheeler Swinea, and James C. Fuller, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Robert M. Talford, Charlotte, Defendant–Appellant, pro se.

McGEE, Judge.

Robert M. Talford (Defendant) was admitted to a medical facility of The Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority (Plaintiff) on 5 November 2007 and was discharged on 8 November 2007. Plaintiff does business as Carolina HealthCare System. Plaintiff provided medical care to Defendant and subsequently billed Defendant $14,419.57 for services rendered. Defendant did not pay the $14,419.57 charged by Plaintiff. Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant and his wife, Miriam Talford (together, Defendants), on 15 October 2009. Plaintiff's complaint included claims for “implied contract and quantum meruit” and “guaranty of payment,” and requested compensatory damages in the amount of $14,419.57. Plaintiff also requested attorney's fees and asked that costs be taxed against Defendants. Defendants answered on 28 December 2009. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Miriam Talford from the action on 2 February 2010 and moved for summary judgment against Defendant on that same date. In an order entered 1 April 2010, the trial court granted Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. Defendant appeals.

I.

In Defendant's sole argument, he contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff on the issue of damages. We agree.

The North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure provide that summary judgment will be granted “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of establishing the lack of any triable issue. The movant may meet this burden by proving that an essential element of the opposing party's claim is nonexistent, or by showing through discovery that the opposing party cannot produce evidence to support an essential element of his claim or cannot surmount an affirmative defense which would bar the claim. By making a motion for summary judgment, a defendant may force a plaintiff to produce a forecast of evidence demonstrating that the plaintiff will be able to make out at least a prima facie case at trial. All inferences of fact from the proofs offered at the hearing must be drawn against the movant and in favor of the party opposing the motion.

Collingwood v. G.E. Real Estate Equities, 324 N.C. 63, 66, 376 S.E.2d 425, 427 (1989) (citations omitted). “On appeal, an order allowing summary judgment is reviewed de novo.” Howerton v. Arai Helmet, Ltd., 358 N.C. 440, 470, 597 S.E.2d 674, 693 (2004) (citation omitted).

In the present case, Defendant argues that summary judgment was improper because there was a material issue of fact concerning whether the charges Plaintiff billed Defendant were reasonable for the goods and services rendered. Therefore, the trial court's grant of summary judgment on the issue of Defendant's liability stands and we consider only whether there was any genuine issue of material fact concerning the measure of damages awarded to Plaintiff. See Booe v. Shadrick, 322 N.C. 567, 570, 369 S.E.2d 554, 555 (1988). Although the dissenting opinion concludes that the trial court granted summary judgment based upon a theory of direct breach of contract, the dissent agrees that, ultimately, the dispositive issue is whether the trial court properly granted summary judgment with respect to damages based upon quantum meruit, which is the only issue for analysis currently before us.

“Our cases hold that the measure of damages for unjust enrichment [implied contract or quantum meruit ] is the reasonable value of the goods and services to the defendant.” Booe, 322 N.C. at 570, 369 S.E.2d at 555 (citations omitted).

[W]hen a physician renders professional services, the law implies a promise on the part of the patient who received the benefit of the services to pay what the services are reasonably worth, absent an agreement that the services were rendered gratuitously. Failure to agree on the amount of compensation entitles the physician to the reasonable value of his services, even where he ministers treatment to a person incapable of mutuality of assent.

Forsyth Co. Hospital Authority, Inc. v. Sales, 82 N.C.App. 265, 266, 346 S.E.2d 212, 214 (1986) (citations omitted). This implied promise by a patient to pay a reasonable charge for medical services “applies equally to hospitals [and] health care providers.” Id. at 268, 346 S.E.2d at 215.

Plaintiff alleges in its complaint that: “The fair and reasonable value of the goods and services [provided by Plaintiff to Defendant during Defendant's hospital stay] ... is not less than Fourteen Thousand Four Hundred Nineteen Dollars and 57/100 ($14,419.57).” Attached to Plaintiff's complaint as “Exhibit A” was a “Legal Account Balance Summary Sheet” indicating Plaintiff charged Defendant $14,419.57 for services rendered. This account balance sheet does not itemize the charges or state what services Plaintiff rendered to Defendant. Plaintiff filed affidavits stating that the unpaid charges it had billed Defendant amounted to $14,419.57, and that this amount was reasonable. “[A] bill for services rendered, standing alone, is insufficient to support an award of damages[;] [however,] it is some evidence of the value of one's services.” Environmental Landscape Design v. Shields, 75 N.C.App. 304, 307, 330 S.E.2d 627, 629 (1985) (citations omitted).

In Harrell v. Construction Co., 41 N.C.App. 593, 255 S.E.2d 280 (1979), our Court held that ledger sheets showing an account of work the plaintiff contended it had performed for the defendant was insufficient to prove the reasonable value of the services the plaintiff had performed for the defendant in a claim for quantum meruit. Our Court held that the defendant's motion for involuntary dismissal should have been granted and the case was remanded for a new trial because the ledger sheets alone were held insufficient to support the damages award granted to the plaintiff. Id. Our Court in Harrell stated:

The measure of damages under an implied contract is the reasonable value of the services accepted and appropriated by the defendant. “The general rule is that when there is no agreement as to the amount of compensation to be paid for services, the person performing them is entitled to recover what they are reasonably worth, based on the time and labor expended, skill, knowledge and experience involved, and other attendant circumstances, rather than on the use to be made of the result or the benefit to the person for whom the services are rendered.” “Damages are never presumed. The burden is always upon the complaining party to establish by evidence such facts as will furnish a basis for their assessment, according to some definite and legal rule.” “The amount to be paid is not the value of the services to the recipient, nor should his financial condition be taken into consideration in determining the value of the services performed. Many factors serve to fix the market value of an article offered for sale. Supply, demand, and quality (which is synonymous with skill when the thing sold is personal services) are prime factors. The jury [here the trial judge], when called upon to fix the value, must base its decision on evidence relating to the value of the thing sold. Without some evidence to establish that fact, it cannot answer. To do so would be to speculate.” Plaintiff did not offer evidence as to the reasonable value or market value of its services, but merely stated what it was charging for these services as shown on [the ledger sheets].

Id. at 595–96, 255 S.E.2d at 282 (citations omitted), but see Booe, 322 N.C. at 571, 369 S.E.2d at 556 (“The Court of Appeals has held that an invoice or bill alone is not sufficient evidence to support a jury award as to the reasonable value of services. Harrell v. Construction Co., 41 N.C.App. 593, 255 S.E.2d 280. We expressly declined to rule on that question in Harrell v. Construction [ Co.], 300 N.C. 353, 266 S.E.2d 626. It is not necessary for us to decide this question in this case because there is more evidence than the amount billed to the defendants.”). Therefore, our Supreme Court has not decided whether a bill for services rendered, standing alone, can be sufficient to support an award of damages for a claim of quantum meruit. We are bound by the decisions from our Court that have addressed this issue. Further, most of the cases relied upon by Plaintiff, Defendant, our majority opinion, and the dissent, involve determinations of whether the grant or denial of motions for directed verdict were proper, not whether the grant or denial of motions for summary judgment were proper. As we will discuss in detail below, this is a critical distinction.

II.

Plaintiff states in its complaint that the services it rendered to Defendant were “reasonable given that they are standard charges rendered to all patients receiving similar types of services, they are within industry norms for similar facilities providing similar services at similar levels of care, and they are compliant with various published billing and charging regulations and guidelines[.]” Plaintiff's Director of Revenue Management, Sunny Sain, and Plaintiff's Manager of Patient Financial Services, James D. Robinson, filed affidavits to this effect. Defendant filed an affidavit on 24 March 2010, stating in...